


Gilgamesh

by ItsAlwaysBloodMagic



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Abandonment Issues, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Background Highspecs, Canon Compliant, Everybody Is A Mess Without Gladio, Flirting, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-15 14:39:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13033287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsAlwaysBloodMagic/pseuds/ItsAlwaysBloodMagic
Summary: When Gladio tells them he’s leaving and Noctis asks for how long, Gladio says 'not long enough for you to miss me'.It isn’t true.





	Gilgamesh

**Author's Note:**

> [Come visit me on Tumblr!](https://itsalwaysbloodmagic.tumblr.com/)

When Gladio tells them he’s leaving and Noctis asks for how long, Gladio says 'not long enough for you to miss me'.

It isn’t true.

'What do you think Gladio’s doing right now?' Prompto asks, on the first day.

'Probably picking up girls,' Noctis responds. If it comes out a little sideways, Prompto pretends not to notice.

Everybody’s on edge, right from the beginning. They have somewhere they need to be, no use waiting around. Gladio thinks they can do it without him so they do. They get in the car and drive to the Vesperpool, a little dot in the map that Ignis sat down and worked out with Iris. Ignis grips the wheel tighter than usual and Prompto taps his knees and bobs his head to music that isn’t there before giving up and staring out the window with a look on his face that says this really sucks and he doesn’t know what to do to make it better. After a while he leans into Ignis’ space shyly, brushes an elbow against the man’s arm. Ignis just stares straight ahead, makes a point of ignoring Prompto, eyes on the road. 

It’s a jerk move, Noctis thinks - he knows that maybe something is happening between them, he caught them holding hands once, and they do a maddening amount of staring when they think the other isn’t looking. It seems to be a love-hate thing, at least for Ignis, who can hardly stand Prompto half the time and makes dry, sarcastic, disparaging remarks whenever he can’t take any more of whatever Prom is up to in the moment. Prompto doesn’t get it and Ignis knows that, and Noctis has never really given it much thought, but he is now, and he kind of hates Ignis for it.

Noctis cracks a joke about how the back seat is so much roomier now but no one is listening and it makes him want to cry. Instead he crams himself into the corner, pretending Gladio is in his usual spot, spreading his legs and propping his arms behind his head, spilling out into Noctis’ space.

There are Magitec Troopers on the road. They knew there would be fighting, they’re on their way to a ruin, who knows what’s even down there. But this is the first time Noct has fought without his Shield since he was ten and started training, and he realizes just how much he’s relied on Gladio to make him feel safe. Ignis gives orders but stops halfway through, his voice unsteady, and starts again from the beginning. He forgot to account for them being down one man, forgot to account for the fact that they are fighting without their tank. He gives hasty directions that have Noctis wielding a greatsword, putting his body on the line like he’s not their King, not a valuable commodity to be protected at all costs. 

They make it through the fight and Noctis feels better, but he’s still shaking, and Prompto still doesn’t know how to make any of it okay, tries for a victory tune that falls flat. They start up driving again and have just gotten past the outskirts of a hunting post when Prompto asks if they can stop for a photo they should have taken five minutes ago. Noctis almost tells him no but Ignis turns the car around obligingly and parks just a few yards from the overlook. They all climb out and Ignis says 'it’ll be a nice change of pace' and Noctis balls his hands into fists because it’s not. He just wants Gladio back. He wants his goofy jokes and his big bulk pressed up against Noctis at night, wants to hear him yell in battle, tell Noct to get it together, because Noct is trying so hard to show off that he’s leaving himself open to attack. 

That night they camp. Ignis makes skewers, a favorite of Gladio’s, but neither him nor Prompto seem to realize it. Noctis doesn’t eat his, just sets the plate down on the ground. He flees the campsite, half warping and half jogging, ignoring the shooting pain in his back that kicks up when things are bad. Nobody follows him. It’s dark and daemons are out there, nobody cares enough to check on him, and his Shield's not there to watch his back.

The next day they arrive at the Vesperpool. The Chancellor is there. He makes vague threats and when he points out that there are only three of them, Noctis can’t wipe the bitterness from his face. 'A bit of a sore subject', the Chancellor says. 'Fuck you', Noctis thinks but he doesn’t speak, just slouches along a few paces behind. The man makes him feel dirty and it bothers him that he doesn’t know why. He thinks about warping away again but they are in enemy territory here, they have to buy potions from the Gods-damned Niffs because Ignis misses Gladio too and he forgot to stock up when they stopped for gas. There’s a girl there, Aranea, and she’s okay, Noctis guesses. They have to fight with her either way. Prompto is tripping over himself to make an impression and usually Noctis would laugh, but not today. Today it seems sad and desperate and Noctis feels bad for his friend. Aranea thinks it’s cute in a kiddo sort of way and she makes herself clear on the matter. Prompto is oblivious, just clings to the praise like a lovesick puppy.

Noctis wants to punch something. Luckily the ruins are full of things to punch. 

They’re fighting some new type of daemon. Noctis thinks they’re called custards or pudding or something. It makes bile build up in the back of his throat, makes him think of dinners with his dad where nobody would talk and he was forced to eat carrots and mushy desserts. He kills one. It’s satisfying until its innards run out all over the floor and some gets in his shoe and Prompto notices and pokes fun. 'Shut up,' he says, and Prompto shuts up, his chin quivering a little. More of the fuckers pop up and Noctis is flying, being risky on purpose because there’s no one there to stop him. 

He keeps waiting for Ignis to provide instructions but Ignis is too busy with Aranea to bother. Noct hears him say he’d 'never let a lady bloody her hands' and there’s the bile is again, threatening to spill out and give him away. He cuts in, angry, calls her the enemy. She calls him 'Pretty Boy' and 'Prince Charming' and it just reminds him of Gladio all over again. She seems really cool but he can’t help but hate her, can't help but feel like Gladio’s left him and he’s not coming back and where did Ignis learn to talk like that anyway?

'You’re flirting,' he says to Ignis, when Aranea is otherwise occupied. Prompto says 'hey, I’m flirting too' and Noctis is rolling his eyes. He doesn’t care if Prompto is flirting, Prompto flirts with everybody. He’s not sure why it bothers him when Ignis does it. He doesn’t want to think about that, doesn’t have to, because Ignis tells him sharply that it's none of his business. He’s cruel about it, like Noctis is a child sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong.

And then they’re finished. They’ve got orders to rest up so Ignis is leading them back to the car. They’re camping again tonight. There’s nobody to ask Noctis if he’s got a problem with camping so he doesn’t even bother to complain. Ignis mentions that Aranea would be a formidable ally. Noct’s not having any of it. He calls her the enemy again but Ignis just says 'psh' like it’s the silliest thing he’s ever heard, Prompto sighs like he does for Cindy, and Noctis is left grasping at air. 

When they're zipped up into the sleeping bags and the world is dark and the sound of daemons stalking the night is far enough away to be easily forgotten, Noctis scoots over to Ignis and pushes his head into his chest. Ignis stirs and says 'Noct' and Noctis just presses in harder. Strong arms find his shoulders, wrap all the way around, and he's being held and he's crying like he's eight years old again and waking up from a nightmare. It feels good, it feels right, and he knows he’s in a world of trouble. If Gladio were here this wouldn’t be happening, and for a moment, right before he lifts his mouth up to find his advisor’s, he hates the man that left, left him here to kiss somebody else in his wake.

Ignis kisses him back, and he isn’t sure if it’s because he has to, because Noctis is his king, or because he wants to, wants it as badly as Noctis does. Ignis knows, everybody knows, what he does with Gladio, knows it’s important to Noct, to Gladio too. Still, it doesn’t surprise either one of them that this is happening. They kiss, and they gasp, and when it’s all over, when Noctis has found his release, they both fall asleep. There’s no reason to talk about it, so they don’t, not that night or the next morning or ever.

Noctis demands they spend the whole next day fishing. He refuses to respool the line out of spite, catches four vesper gars anyway. Ignis and Prompto try their best to heckle him but it’s not the same in a group of three and pretty soon they stop.

He sleeps on the way to Lestallum, in a Niflheim airship where anything could happen, and he just has to trust that it won’t. When he wakes up he’s confused because how did he get here and why is Aranea waking him up and where is Ignis? Ignis, turns out, is sitting against a cool metal wall staring at him with a peculiar look on his face that makes Noctis wonder if anything will ever be the same again. When he says good bye to Aranea it's just a little too intimate and Noct wonders about that too, but he doesn’t ask, because he’s afraid of being treated like a child again.

Later Gladio is there in a space suit pretending – badly – to be somebody else, some dumb hunter that doesn't even matter. Noctis plays along but he’s bad at pretending too and he’s bad at holding grudges apparently, because soon enough he’s talking about his training brother and he can’t keep the fondness out of his voice. They walk out of the power plant with their arms around each other, half-wrestling, Noct in a headlock. They both just want to be close, to be touching. It’s the foundation of their relationship, touch, and Noctis thinks maybe that was what he missed the most to begin with.

Ignis is smiling and Prompto just looks relieved that he doesn’t have to deal with awkward silences anymore. Gladio keeps one hand on Noctis even as he gives Prompto a hard time, and Noctis has a big cheesy grin on his face and he doesn’t even care. He tells Gladio his new scar looks stupid and Gladio looks proud, takes Noct’s hand in his own and traces it around the shiny red skin. 

They’re all seated around the campfire and it's like he never left. The smoke keeps shifting directions and they’ve taken turns saying fluffy bunnies or whatever it is you’re supposed to say to make it move on. Prompto skips the ritual in favor of hovering around the edges, standing in the smoke until it makes him choke, forces him to shove over. Eventually Ignis catches his hand and pulls him to sit, which has him blushing, and has Gladio raising an eyebrow at the two of them.

Gladio talks and Noctis is in awe. He can’t believe anybody would do that for him.

Later, in the tent, he bargains extra kisses for a chance to be the little spoon. Gladio doesn’t seem to mind, just holds him close like he hasn’t seen him in years. After everybody is asleep Noctis reaches across the cold canvas floor, finds Ignis’ hand, and clings to it. Ignis’ fingers press back into his and things feel better, like the world has righted itself just a little bit. He can stay here forever and pretend he doesn’t have to push forward, doesn’t have to make deals with the gods. He can pretend he's not the last of his line, like his name isn't Noctis Lucis, chosen to bring back the dawn. There's no nebulous prophecy hanging over his head, he’s here with his friends, with his lover, with the people who matter most, and nobody can take that away from him.

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is a completely new style for me. Concrit is appreciated, especially about grammar and flow. 
> 
>  
> 
> [Come visit me on Tumblr!](https://itsalwaysbloodmagic.tumblr.com/)


End file.
